Eye on the Cure

I am pleased to report that Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) just received institutional review board approval to add Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida, as a clinical trial site for its stem-cell-derived treatment for people with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Bascom Palmer has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the best ophthalmology hospital in the U.S. for the last eight years, so they are no doubt a valuable addition to the study.

ACT’s clinical trial of its treatment for dry AMD is also taking place at UCLA and Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia.

The clinical trial of the same treatment for Stargardt disease is underway at UCLA and Wills, as well as Grampian University Hospitals and Moorfields Eye Hospital in the U.K.

Earlier this year, ACT announced encouraging results for the first two trial participants treated, one with dry AMD and the other with Stargardt disease. There were no adverse events, and the cells provided modest vision improvement.

The expansion of these studies to additional sites and the treatment of more participants will provide more information about the treatment’s potential for saving vision. I look forward to reporting additional clinical trial results as they are made available.

If you haven’t done so already, make sure you read Dr. David Gamm’s guest blog post on his outstanding stem cell research and the enormous potential it has as both a treatment and a research tool.